Turkey has appealed a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling that called for the immediate release of jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, requesting that the case be referred to the court’s Grand Chamber before the decision becomes final, Turkish media reported Wednesday.
The appeal challenges a July 8 decision by the Strasbourg court that found Turkey in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), saying Demirtaş’s pretrial detention for more than four years had “pursued an ulterior purpose, namely that of stifling public debate and limiting the scope of democratic debate.” It also criticized Turkey’s Constitutional Court for taking more than four years to rule on his appeal.
The deadline for Turkey to contest the ruling was set to expire Wednesday.
According to Demirtaş’s lawyer, Mahsuni Karaman, the finalization of the ruling has been paused due to Turkey’s appeal. The appeal will first be reviewed by a panel of five judges. If the request to refer the case to the Grand Chamber is accepted, it will be reconsidered by the 17-member body. The appeal temporarily suspends the ruling, meaning it will not take effect unless the Grand Chamber declines to hear the case.
However, if Turkey’s request for referral is rejected, the judgment will be finalized. Appeals to the Grand Chamber are typically accepted only on important points concerning the interpretation of the ECHR. Since a previous violation ruling in Demirtaş’s case has already become final, legal experts say the appeal may be rejected.
Demirtaş, a prominent Kurdish politician and vocal critic of the Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was initially arrested on November 4, 2016 on charges including “dissemination of terrorist propaganda” and alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). In May 2024 Demirtaş was sentenced to 42 years in prison for allegedly undermining state unity during the Kobani protests, which erupted across Turkey on October 6-8, 2014, when the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) laid siege to the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani. Particularly intense in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern provinces, the protests resulted in 37 deaths.
The ECtHR has previously ruled three times — in 2018, 2020 and 2025 — that Demirtaş’s detention violated his rights, concluding that Turkish authorities had sought to silence political opposition. The latest judgment ordered Ankara to pay Demirtaş compensation totaling more than €55,000 in damages and legal costs.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which Demirtaş once co-chaired, has since been succeeded by the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).
The government’s decision to appeal drew criticism from DEM Party leaders, who accused Ankara of defying international law.
“The ECtHR clearly stated that Selahattin Demirtaş must be released immediately,” DEM Party Co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan said on X. “Persisting in this unlawful detention is an admission of injustice.”
Fellow Co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları said, “Our struggle for justice and democracy will continue against these antidemocratic moves.”
Despite multiple ECtHR rulings, Turkey has so far declined to release either Demirtaş or jailed businessman and activist Osman Kavala, whose continued imprisonment has drawn condemnation from the Council of Europe. The council’s Committee of Ministers oversees compliance with the court’s judgments and can impose sanctions on member states that fail to implement them.
